[quirky music playing]
[alarm blaring]
I knew it. I knew it.
You're trying to steal my burger.
Turn that off, Hunter. What is that?
This is my new burger alarm system.
I gotta protect my burger.
Uh, I'll tell you. That's a good one.
That's a good one but not as good
as tonight's burger competition.
We've got four top burgermeisters
that are making over-the-top cheeseburgers.
We're talking winning burgers
with fries and combos and we got burgers
on the sides of ooey-gooey grocery games.
Seven ingredients.
No.
-Hey. Hey. -Hey, now.
[Chad] I just wanna get a nice sear.
Whoo.
[Guy] It's gonna be one big bad
bodacious burger battle.
-Well-- -Oh. Oh, Hunter.
Look, somebody's stealing something
-right over there. -Where? Where?
Right here. It's Best Burgers
right now on Guy's Grocery Games.
Keep going. Keep going.
[dramatic music playing]
So, let's meet our baller burgers chefs.
Now, first up, we have Chad Duffield,
the Las Vegas executive chef,
who uses his French culinary training
and Michelin star background
to make show-stopping burgers.
[Chad] At Sickies Garage Burgers & Brews,
we won awards for the best burger in Las Vegas.
Peanut butter, donuts, jalapenos.
-Whoo. -Out of Vegas, huh?
You went from heat to heat.
Some people are burger purists,
but I'm a burger extremist.
Next, we got Mimi Phillips,
the chef who quit her day job as a bus driver
when her Los Angeles burger business took off.
I am the burger queen.
I started my career as a metro bus driver,
but I went full-time burgers,
opened Phat Daddy's Burgers in 2017.
We make home-style burgers,
like just coming right off your grandmother's stove.
-Mimi. -Yeah.
Then, there's a Amanda Luhowiak,
chef and country girl from Virginia,
whose rustic burgers
use only the freshest meat
straight from her eatery's butcher counter.
I've been a butcher for 12 years.
I own and operate The Whole Ox Butcher Shop.
We're a whole animal butchery and a restaurant inside.
Luhowiak. That's a heck of a name.
[Amanda] You can absolutely make a burger out
of any protein,
turkey, bison, venison,
elk, chicken, pork.
And, finally, Titus Mitchell,
the culinary school grad, whose joint was voted
number one best burger in Brooklyn on Yelp.
[Titus] I truly think that my burgers are phenomenal.
People come in, they see Titus there,
they know they are gonna get
the best burger in Brooklyn.
-How are you? -Looking good. Number one.
Sky is the limit with burgers.
Welcome. You are all bona fide burgermeisters
and I'll tell you one thing,
Triple G fans
love a good burger battle.
I've got two exciting burger games
that you will just flip over.
-Literally. -[laughs]
But, unfortunately, the chef with the lowest score
at the end of the first round will be 86th.
It's not just a rule, it's the slaw.
[laughter]
But the chef with the highest combined score
at the end of both round will get to shop
Flavortown Market for up to $20,000.
-[Amanda] Ooh. -[Guy] That's what it is.
Now, I want you to blow the judges away from the get-go.
First challenge, I want you to make them
an over-the-top cheeseburger.
-Over-the-top. -A cheesy burger
so big, so bold, so bodacious
that on a scale of, like, one to ten...
it scores nothing less than a ten.
Well, maybe nothing less than 10 ingredients
because you have to check out
at the Express Lane which has
a 10-ingredient-limit.
Oh, lord.
Hunter will be waiting at the counter
to check out your 10 items.
Now, you can shop any aisle
for any item that you want,
but no loitering around
because this is also Register Run.
No.
The first chef to hit the register
gets to use 10 ingredients.
The second chef to reach the register
only gets to use nine ingredients,
third chef will get to use eight ingredients,
and the last chef to make that cheeseburger
will only get seven ingredients.
Wow.
So, let me get this right.
We've got Express Lane,
Register Run, and 30 minutes
to shop, prepare, and plate,
over-the-top cheeseburger.
-That sounds easy. -Not at all.
-No. -[laughter]
In the next round,
you could be relegated to
going from three ingredients to two ingredients.
You could be the one person that goes home
for no ingredients.
-Go. Go. -Go. Go. Go.
-Go. Go. -[Jonathon] Go, go!
You could be the one shopping for no ingredients.
Oh, my goodness.
We have to make an over-the-top--
-Cheeseburger-- -The burger of all burgers.
[Guy] Oh, yeah.
If you don't get to the counter quick enough,
you don't get to use all your ingredients.
That's scary.
First person to the Express Lane
gets 10 items,
but I don't need 10 items.
I'm making a wagyu patty
on a toasted pretzel roll.
And then, the knockout punch,
the super-melted cheese sauce,
then you'd get that perfect,
juicy, flavorful bite.
And last thing, I grabbed some white bread
to make crouton for texture and crunch.
So, I only needed seven items.
Lucky sevens. Vegas, baby.
[tense music playing]
All right. Yeah, 10. I like it.
You have 10 items you can get.
You only went for seven items?
-Yes, sir. -But you have no mayonnaise,
no mustard, and--
-Don't need it, brother. -Don't need it.
I don't need mayo, Guy.
I'm gonna make an amazing cheese sauce.
That's my sauce, baby.
I don't think that was a smart shop.
If you got here first, you should grab all 10.
Woo-hoo.
I want to shop really super-fast
so that I could wind up with the 10 items.
Buns, buns, buns, buns,
cheese, cheese.
And put cheese
anywhere and everywhere that I can,
through meat, on top of the meat,
cheese everywhere.
I know I wanna make my own sauce.
Mayo, ketchup,
spicy pickle chips.
When you're watching this show at home and saying,
"Oh, I'dda done this or I'dda done that."
It is way easier said than done.
[laughs]
Chad has just beaten there.
[Hunter] Nine items.
I won over--
[Hunter] What do you wanna do?
-What do you wanna do? -No lettuce.
-[Hunter] No lettuce? -[Amanda] No lettuce.
Although, I believe that lettuce
is very important for a burger.
For a crunchy crunch element,
I can replace that with fresh onion
and pickle chips.
I need ground beef.
When I think of over-the-top cheeseburger,
I'm thinking double patties,
American cheese,
and Gruyere cheese,
fried egg, jalapenos,
you know, to add a little bit of acid.
I wanna make sure that the burger wasn't dry,
so I'm gonna grab some mayonnaise, and ketchup,
Worcestershire.
I'm just gonna pile it on.
Potato buns. That's 10.
Run and get to the register.
Hopefully, I get there first.
Ten win.
[squeals]
And then, I thought, bacon.
I forgot the bacon. Oh, no.
Bacon.
I'll just have to figure out
what's going and what's staying.
I'm third and only can use
eight ingredients. Bummer.
What's most important,
ketchup, fat, heat?
Heat.
I chose all the sauces to leave out.
-[Hunter] Hey. Hey. -[Hunter] Hey, now.
[Guy] I put him through check-out training.
Thank you.
The over-easy egg,
that will be my sauce.
Over-the-top definitely means
a lot of ingredients.
However, the last person
gets seven ingredients,
so I'm shopping as fast as I can.
So, I'm grabbing two different kinds of beef,
regular beef, and beef that had pork in it,
because it adds a little bit more flavor to the burgers.
I'm grabbing American cheese.
I'm grabbing the Swiss cheese.
Liquid smoke is, like, five, six,
seven, eight flavors in one.
That's what makes it over-the-top for me.
And this game is crazy, like, it's so fast.
You truly have to be on your A-game.
I'm the last one at the register
and I'm feeling not so good.
I can only use seven ingredients for my burger.
Liquid smoke is the key for you?
-Liquid smoke is the cure. -[Guy] You sure?
-I'm positive. Yeah. -[Guy] Okay.
[Guy] Now, hang on, chef. You got two different meats.
Why don't you just go with one of the meats?
-So, give me the ground meat and the beef. -Okay.
So, do you want the cheese or tomato?
-Tomato. -Okay.
I know I'm making a good burger.
I'll figure it out
and I'll make it work.
Let us meet the judges
who relish the thought
of tasting these burgers.
First, we have Top Chef winner
and chef owner of KBC,
the one and only,
-Chef Kelsey Barnard Clark. -Hello.
James Beard award winning chef, butcher,
and master of meat, the one and only
Chef Jonathon Sawyer.
And renowned New York restaurateur,
Chef Leah Cohen.
All right, Judges. We asked
for some over-the-top cheeseburgers.
I think you're a little bit mean.
I'm not gonna lie.
It's gonna be very hard when you have
a limited amount of ingredients.
-You need all 10 ingredients. -[Jonathon] Yeah.
I don't believe that you can limit seven ingredients.
[Chad] We grabbed slices so it'll melt faster.
What kind of burger are you making, chef,
that you have seven items?
I'm making a pretzel bun cheeseburger.
We're using wagyu beef, of course,
'cause we just love the flavor in the fat.
What is the bread?
[Chad] The bread is gonna be for a crouton.
Okay.
And this cheese sauce,
umami of it sliced cheese...
the creaminess of the cream cheese,
and some cheddar for some sharpness
and some flavor.
So, it just can't be cheese,
I'm gonna use some pantry ingredients.
I'm gonna bring gameplay.
A little bit of cayenne, paprika.
Just gonna get the cheese melting.
And you know what? I need some acid on this burger.
I'm gonna put a little red wine vinegar in it too.
I'm only working with seven items.
Is it gonna be enough?
Well, I have all the flavors I need.
[Guy] If only you had three more ingredients.
[Chad] I know.
[dramatic music playing]
[Guy] 22:22, to go.
Now, I saw Mimi with some bacon and some eggs.
-Where's my sauce? -No sauce.
-Where's the sauce at? -No sauce.
I think she's relying
on the fried egg to be the sauce.
Chef, what's the menu?
A double-bacon cheeseburger
with a over-easy egg, jalapenos.
I got Gruyere, American.
I'm gonna have to make this cheesiest burger
with the eight ingredients that I have to work with.
Got it.
[tense music playing]
So, instead of just topping
the burger with the jalapenos,
I decided to add them to the meat.
Ground beef burger.
We're gonna make this
a jalapeno burger.
Get these patties on the grill.
Mimi is going, like, super classic.
-Yeah. -And I kind of love it.
A bacon cheeseburger with some pickled jalapenos.
I didn't come to Flavortown to play.
I came to Flavortown to slay.
[tense music playing]
Titus, very, very smart.
He had the least amount of ingredients to use,
so he grabs a mix
of beef and bacon already ground.
[Titus] I saw cayenne at my station.
I'm using cayenne for more flavor.
All right. Titus, tell me where we're at, man.
So, I'm making a ground beef and bacon burger.
A little bit of lettuce, tomato.
And we're gonna get it going like that.
I don't see liquid smoke
getting busted out very often.
What's going on with this liquid smoke?
The liquid smoke is going on the burgers.
[tense music playing]
Liquid smoke, it scares me to death.
Don't worry about it, chef.
I've been doing it a million, you be all right.
-You'll be all right. -You got it. You got it.
So, we use liquid smoke at the restaurant
all the time. It gives it that
4th-of-July-grilling flavor.
First thing I'm working on
is my patty,
using the patty machine.
The pork in it, it gives it
a little bit more flavor.
So, because I got pork,
I gotta cook it well-done.
So, I gotta let it cook all the way through.
Grilling, you get that nice grilled flavor.
Once the burgers are on the grill,
I'm just working on my sauces.
What's going on in that mayonnaise?
[Titus] I'm just gonna put a little bit more
of the liquid smoke on top.
You scare me to death with liquid smoke.
-No, don't worry about it. -Okay.
-I think you'll be all right. -That's the guy who's done
best burger in Brooklyn.
-I can't, you know. -Best burger in Brooklyn.
[dramatic music playing]
[tense music playing]
[Amanda] Starting with ground beef.
When I think of an over-the-top cheeseburger,
I think of cheese everywhere.
[Guy] Amanda, what's on the menu?
An extremely cheesy ground beef burger.
Cheese mixed in to the actual beef itself.
You said cheesy,
-so here we go. -Okay.
Mixing cheese into the burger meat?
All that grease stripping down your arm.
[Amanda] I have my patty mixture ready
and I'm gonna get started on the sauce.
All right.
We have a little bit of paprika,
wickedly hot pickle chips.
I like the acid, the vinegar and the pickles.
If I win today, I would love to use the money
to put towards a second location
that is also right in the hometown
of Marshall, Virginia.
Oh, my gosh. That's super delicious.
Marshall is a very small community,
so winning Triple G
would be an awesome experience
not only for myself
but for my community.
Burgermeisters,
15 minutes, halfway point. Fifteen.
[Chad] While my cheese sauce is melting,
let's make some croutons.
The whole point of the crouton
is to give this burger
a little texture
so it's not just meat,
and cheese, and bun.
We need a little crunch.
Now, let's make the burgers.
Let's go. Smash 'em.
I just wanna get a nice sear. Whoo.
The best way to eat wagyu beef
is medium-rare meat.
I can smell that wagyu now.
-Can you guys smell that? -Yeah.
[Jonathon] Go over the top, it's over the top.
Everything on that burger
has to be exceptional.
I'm playing for our veterans.
My great-grandfather fought in World War I
and then my grandfather fought in World War II.
If I win, I wanna donate the winnings
for the troops.
[Mimi] Burgers are cooking perfectly.
Mimi is giving us a double-stack burger.
[Jonathon] With eight ingredients, really,
really smart gameplay.
[Mimi] We got Gruyere, we got American.
We asked for cheesy, she's giving us cheesy.
[Mimi] Double burger, double cheese, please.
How's that bacon looking, chef?
[Mimi] Oh, that bacon just might have to go
in the fryer, Guy.
I want that bacon
good and crispy.
Ooh. What is Mimi frying?
[Leah] I think she's frying that bacon.
She's getting that bacon
-double crispy. -Okay.
[Mimi] I decided to leave out all the sauces.
The yolk from the egg
would be my sauce for my burger.
In Phat Daddy's, we make downhome burgers.
At Phat Daddy's, it's just me,
my mom, my cousin.
If I win the money today,
I am going to take my team
on a well needed vacation
because they work so hard.
I wanna show them my appreciation
for everything they do for me.
OMG.
Winning Triple G,
me representing The Stuy Burgers,
it's like a validation of what I do.
That means something to me.
So, if I was to win today,
what I'm gonna do is give my wife the money.
Nicole, my wife, she and I both make sure
that whatever the business needs
we're doing for the business.
[Guy] Eight minutes.
Eight minutes to go.
Guys, you can't really crunch for time.
-Amanda. -[Amanda] Yes.
You cooking now? You better cook them.
[Amanda] Yes. Will do.
[tense music playing]
It's tough when you've got stuff
inside of a burger
because it takes them longer to cook,
so you may wanna really be
pressing those down.
So, I've made some super huge burgers
and I haven't left myself very much time to cook them.
Hey, Amanda's, like, kind of
getting down to the wire.
I'm feeling very behind.
-You should. -[Amanda chuckles]
Time in Flavortown Market
is absolutely insane.
One moment, you feel like you've got lots of time
to get everything done, and then
all of a sudden, it's gone.
[Guy] Five minutes, chefs.
[Chad] I put my beautifully seared wagyu patty
on the pretzel bun.
Then, I gave it an over-the-top portion
of my melted cheese sauce.
[Jonathon] Ooh, look at that cheese.
Oh, wow.
[Chad] Croutons, green onions.
I only needed seven items.
Look at that beautiful burger.
He is done.
[Guy] 03:46.
Another slice of cheese on the bottom.
One on top of the other.
Checked on my bacon,
perfect,
perfect, perfect, perfect.
Ooh, look at that.
Wow.
Get my egg cooked perfectly.
Her burger is over-the-top.
[Mimi] That egg is beautiful.
[Guy] Two and a half.
[Titus] Well, I have my bun with mayonnaise on it,
with a little bit of liquid smoke,
burger with the cheese.
Wow.
[Guy] A minute, twenty.
I am so not gonna make it, guys.
[Kelsey] I'm getting really nervous for Amanda.
-I don't know. -Yeah.
[Amanda] Cooking my patties so very last minute.
Get my buns onto the plate, my sauce.
Every second counts.
[Guy] Thirty seconds.
Amanda is still grilling her burgers, y'all.
I don't know if Amanda's gonna serve us a burger.
Go, go, go.
I cannot serve them raw burgers.
Cook, babies, cook.
[dramatic music playing]
Amanda is still grilling her burgers, y'all.
I don't know if Amanda's gonna serve us a burger.
Go, go, go.
[Amanda] At the very last second,
I decide to go single patty.
[Guy] Ten, nine, eight,
seven, six, five...
-Oh, my God, you guys. -[Guy] four, three,
two, one.
That's it. Stop working.
[applause]
Titus, how you doing?
[Guy] All right, chefs. Let's find out
whose over-the-top cheeseburger
is top in the judges' book.
Follow me right this way.
All right, judges.
This is game one of Best Burgers.
The chefs created over-the-top cheeseburgers
using anywhere from ten to seven ingredients
depending on the order in which they hit the register.
Chad, you were the first to reach the register.
You grabbed seven ingredients.
You could have got 10 ingredients.
Was that part of the strategy so others couldn't get items
or did you just have what you needed and you were done?
Guy, I went with seven ingredients
and I said, "What else do I need?"
What's better than melted cheese
on a smash-sheared wagyu patty
in-between toasted pretzel buns?
And for a little texture,
I threw a little crouton in there.
Very well-balanced.
It's seasoned perfectly.
You've got a good sear on both sides.
-Thank you. -It's gooey,
and it's just, like, messy,
and it's great. I definitely think
it was over-the-top,
especially with those croutons.
It adds some nice texture,
-some crunch. -Thank you.
I do think you're missing a little acidity
and a little bit of texture.
And if you got three more ingredients,
I know you would like, maybe,
you'd see a little bit of ketchup.
That would really take this
-burger over-the-top. -Yes, sir.
Up next, Chef Titus.
So, I got my Bed-Stuy burgers,
ground beef with lettuce, tomatoes, cheddar.
I put a little bit of liquid smoke
in the mayonnaise and the brioche bun.
The construction of the burger is perfect.
It's layered really nicely.
There's not too much meat.
There's not too much bread.
Thank you so much. Appreciate that.
This is a very beautiful burger,
but I actually
don't love the liquid smoke.
I think that it overpowers everything a little bit,
and maybe if there was a touch of sweetness,
a little bit of ketchup, or a little bit of something,
it would balance it out a little more.
-Yes. -I don't know
if the flavor lives up
to the best burger in Brooklyn.
I just think there was a big misstep
on the cook of the burger itself.
Maybe a griddle
rather than a grill.
My burger, I find it
to be a little bit dry.
Got it.
Up next, Chef Mimi,
what do you got for us?
An over-the-top burger.
Two patties, bacon,
grilled onions, jalapeno,
Gruyere, American.
It was over-the-top challenge,
so I put the egg over the top.
That's like a burger-commercial burger.
Mimi, you gave us
the ultimate over-the-top burger.
Like, I can barely fit this burger in my mouth,
but I love how messy with the egg yolk.
It's fantastic.
My overall is it,
-it's lacking seasoning. -Okay.
[Kelsey] There's not enough salt there.
I think actually a little less meat
would've done it more justice.
-Got it. -Double cooking the bacon,
first, par cooked,
then deep fried, brilliant.
My egg wasn't runny,
but I still really enjoyed
that fried egg.
But maybe go with the sauce rather
than Gruyere and American.
Got it. Yeah.
Not to be outdone,
Chef Amanda, what do you have for us?
My over-the-top cheeseburger
is a classic 80-20 fresh ground beef,
stuffed with triple cheese,
melted cheddar on top,
with a house, uh,
special sauce on a brioche bun.
Amanda, I gotta be honest,
I was the most worried about you.
[laughs] I was a little worried myself.
I mean, like, honey, you had those burgers
sitting there at one minute down.
I was like, oh, but this is the most
balanced burger I've eaten yet.
Acid is there, sauce is there.
The bun holds up to the burger.
Seasoning is on point.
-Well done. -Thank you, chef.
The plating is fantastic.
You chose this beautiful checkered paper
and then a little basket.
-I thought it was super smart. -Thank you, chef.
All of these burgers I'm tasting,
"Where's the sauce?"
There is the sauce,
gratuitous amounts dripping all in my beard.
That's an absolute win.
I'd like to see maybe the onions
and the tomatoes underneath the burger
so they could have grabbed some of that fat.
You gotta protect your bottom bun.
-That's important. -Yes, chef.
[Guy] All right, judges. Thank you very much.
Chefs, we're gonna send you back to the kitchens
and we'll call you back when we have a decision.
-Thank You. -Thank you, chef.
And the question is,
is whose cheeseburger with cheddar?
[laughs] I get it.
[Guy] Twenty points for gameplay,
twenty points for taste, ten points for plating.
[Guy] All right, then.
I think everybody gave over-the-top cheeseburgers.
I think it would be some of the supporting cast
of that cheeseburger that may have caused you some problems.
Chad, will start off with you,
16 out of 20 in game play, 18 out of 20 in taste.
Nine for the plating for a forty-three, wow.
Mimi, 16 out of 20 gameplay,
16 out of 20 taste.
Eight plating for a forty.
Nice score.
Amanda, 18 in gameplay,
19 out of 20 in taste.
Nine in plating for a forty-six.
Wow.
Titus, it's up to you, buddy.
You gotta beat a 40,
15 in gameplay,
16 out of 20 in taste.
Eight for a plating for a thirty-nine.
One point behind.
Those are some big scores
when it comes to doing burgers,
but, unfortunately, Titus, I'm sorry.
It's a one-point difference, but we'll say good night.
Well, I appreciate it, guys. Thank you. Thank you.
Only seven ingredients kind of hindered me a little bit.
-Nice to have you, man. -I'm just thankful.
Just an experience that it'll add
to what I do moving forward.
All right, chefs.
This is the final round of our Best Burgers battle.
Chef Amanda, 46, big lead.
With a really good banging burger,
the rest of you could easily ketchup.
[laughter]
Keep your eyes on the prize or better yet,
keep your eyes on the fries.
For your final challenge, I want you to make the judges
a winning burger and fries.
Use as many ingredients as you want.
Make your own special sauce or even your secret sauce.
Secret, special, secret, special.
That's right. Special.
We have the Manager's Special today.
Okay.
[Guy] Our assistant to the assistant manager,
Hunter, has a two-for-one special for you
over in the deli section.
-Hi, Hunter. -Hi, guys.
[Guy] That combines a ground meat
with a vegetable that might be, well,
not so burger-friendly, but don't worry about that.
Both items are mandatory ingredients
in your burger and fries combo.
When I say go,
you'll race over to the counter
and grab one of these combos from Hunter.
Now, Amanda, you have the highest score,
you would go first.
You get to pick what you want.
Chad, you have a 43, you go second,
Mimi you'll be third.
You have 30 minutes to create a winning burger and fries
combo incorporating your Manager's Special.
Just remember this.
There are three different two-for-one,
go for specials.
Bye-bye. [laughs]
These two-for-one Manager's Specials,
it's kinda helpful for us to get rid
of some of the things we don't want.
[dramatic music playing]
Championship Burger Battle,
Manager's Special, Two-for-one.
I have no idea what to expect from Hunter.
Welcome. Welcome.
We've got ground pork and plantains,
ground lamb and asparagus, ground turkey and parsnips.
Ground lamb and asparagus, please.
Ground lamb is something that I work with regularly.
I have no idea
what I'm gonna do with asparagus.
-Turkey, parsnips. -[Hunter] All right.
Ground turkey and parsnips.
[Chad] We can make a turkey burger
and parsnips to root.
I can turn that into an awesome fry.
[Hunter] Ground pork and plantains.
[Guy] Plantains and ground pork. Delicious.
[Mimi] The pork, I knew that I can figure something out.
Plantains, oh my God.
Where am I gonna go with this?
Something that I have never worked with.
Think, think, think, think, think.
Dad, do you want anything?
No? Too bad.
That's burger, fries, fries, fries, fries.
Ground lamb adds a little bit of sweetness.
I wanted to showcase from a butcher's aspect
how you can mix different types of proteins,
wild boar and elk,
to get a tri-burger effect or a primal burger.
Oh, cheese.
I need some Buns.
I want a little bit of spice. I grab some sriracha aioli.
This just isn't a winning burger,
it's a winning burger and fries.
I'm gonna grab a few russets to hand cut my own fries.
Still have no idea what I'm doing with this asparagus.
I'm gonna be honest. I don't want asparagus on a burger.
[Amanda] And...
I really feel inspired to make my burger
for the judges so they can see exactly how it's done.
[Chad] Winning burger and fries.
I'm gonna make a turkey burger.
We've got brioche buns.
And I'm gonna turn those parsnips into fries.
Avocados to give you some fat.
The jalapeno jelly
is the secret killer ingredient.
The habanero cheese, spicy, cheesy.
I'm second place, I'm right in the middle.
I gotta bring it next round
and I'm gonna see if I can capture the crown
and bring it home to the troops.
80-20 ground beef, some bacon choices.
I wanna go with fried plantains
with a nice ground pork burger.
And I can do a sweet and sour pork burger brioche.
This time, I wanted to make sure
that I had a sauce.
I grabbed some spicy ketchup, Worcestershire,
feeling confident that I can build this pork burger.
And on the other hand, I'm last.
I'm feeling worried because I have to work
with these plantains
and make something delicious out of them.
As to where I'm going with this,
I am thinking as I go.
We gotta make some burgers for the judges.
Twenty-four minutes.
The Manager's Special, lamb and asparagus,
pork and plantains, turkey and parsnips.
[Kelsey] I love parsnips.
They've got that licorice flavor to them,
they're sweet.
But with turkey...
It's dry on dry on dry on dry.
That turkey and parsnips
is not something I would give my enemy.
I wanted to start the parsnip fries
'cause that's gonna be one of the longer cooks.
And I wanna turn those parsnips into fries.
Chef, what's the plan? What do we got going?
I wanna make a turkey burger with a jalapeno jelly,
crispy onion tanglers, crispy parsnip fries.
All right. I like that.
The jalapeno jelly.
I want it to be spicy, sweet, tangy, sugar,
red wine and vinegar.
I gotta bring this to a boil.
We're gonna go to the blast chiller.
Put it in the blast chiller so it'll all come together
as a beautiful jelly.
Now, it's time for turkey.
A little dryer, though. We gotta introduce some fats.
A little jalapeno to give it some bite.
So, when I put these things on the grill to cook,
it's not a lifeless cardboard.
A little butter.
[Mimi] Let's see where this takes me.
I wanted to add the sweet and sour sauce
to bring up the flavors of the pork.
I added some green pepper so I can give my burger
a little bit of freshness.
What's up chef? How we doing?
I'm going to do a sweet and sour pork burger.
Ooh.
And I'm gonna fry some plantains.
Have you ever worked with plantains before
or peeled a plantain before?
[Mimi] I've never worked with plantains before.
Okay.
[Mimi] I just really wanted the pork to shine.
For fries, cut these plantains up,
get a good fry on them.
I never thought in a million years
that I would be here.
I was a metro bus driver.
After doing that for so long
and I opened Phat Daddy's Burgers.
If I win, I'm gonna take my team
on a vacation because they worked so hard.
They put their time, energy into my dream.
They deserve it.
[Guy] We gotta make some burgers.
First thing we're gonna do is make a little SMC,
super melted cheese.
You gotta make some donkey sauce, mayonnaise,
garlic, mustard, Worcestershire,
donkey sauce, choose both sides of the bun.
Burgers go down, 80-20 ground beef.
Burger doesn't have a lot to it.
Every part of it needs to be kissed.
On here.
All right, chef. What kind of burgers we doing?
I'm gonna do a tri-burger.
I'm gonna take the lamb, the wild boar,
and the elk, and mix them all together.
Nice. What's your plan with the asparagus?
Into that fryer
and it'll mix of asparagus potato fry.
Interesting.
For my fry element,
I'm gonna hand cut my own fries.
And I really wanna nail these fries.
Four minutes to blanche them and then they're gonna need
to go into the blast chiller so that I can do a double fry.
I have my asparagus, blanched it off.
-Ooh. Bright green. -[Hunter] Woah.
[Amanda] To stop my asparagus from cooking,
I take them out of the boiling water
and straight into an ice bath.
It brings them down to temperature very quickly,
and they stay nice and crunchy,
and throw them in the fryer so we'll have a green and white fry.
For my lamb, red chili flake, ground cumin,
dash of cinnamon, cayenne for a touch of heat.
I just won the first round.
I am that much closer
to opening the second location.
I love our establishment, The Whole Ox Butcher Shop,
and what it's been able to provide for the community.
So, I'm really excited to potentially win some money
and put towards the second location
that we're opening.
Chefs, you got 14 and a half minutes,
14 and a half to go.
[Chad] Well, I'm cooking turkey.
I gotta cook this well-done.
While the burgers were searing,
let's make some crispy onion tanglers,
dredged in the flour.
I gotta get them in the fryer.
Turkey burger is a little dry,
it's what the avocado is for to give you some fat.
Parsnips are a little bit sweet,
so I want a spicy, tangy,
fry dipping sauce to balance of sweet.
This winning burger and fries is really important to me.
And this could be a $20,000 burger
for the troops that fight
for our freedom every day.
Ooh, burgers are cooking.
This time, I wanted to make sure
that I had a sauce.
I throw in some sweet and sour,
spicy ketchup,
a little Worcestershire, stir it up.
Put my buns on the grill.
Get everything going perfectly.
I take a look at my plantain.
They are a soggy, greasy mess.
Oh, they're not cooking.
I throw them on the griddle to try to get a fry on them.
Please fry, plantain fries.
These were supposed to be my fries,
but at this point, they are plantain puffs.
Please cook, please do something.
Well, I'll tell you what, the burger on station four
-looks perfect. -[Kelsey] I know, right?
[Guy] You could tell Hunter and I've made
a few of these in our day.
Donkey sauce. Hit me on the bottom.
Fantastic.
Hang on. Hang on. What's up?
Got the bacon. Oh.
The burger we won burger bash with.
Not that you all need...
to eat another burger.
[Jonathon] Wow.
-[Leah] Wow. -[Guy] Right here.
This cheese.
-[Jonathon] This is a burger. -[Leah] Wow.
[Guy] So, you see the drip that you're getting?
That's raindrop from Flavortown.
-This is fantastic. -[Guy] See?
[Leah] This is so good.
There you go. Enjoy. Six minutes.
Six to go.
[Amanda] Burgers are cooking on the plancha.
It's time to get back to these fries.
Taking the fries from the blast chiller,
and going straight to the fryer,
and get a nice crispy French fries.
Next, I take the asparagus fries
out of the other fryer, add some cheese.
Everything's coming together.
Get the buns toasted off on the grill.
I'm gonna make a sauce again for this delicious burger,
some sriracha aioli and salad dressing.
When your battling the clock,
you literally forget some of the simplest things.
[laughs]
My bun's on fire.
Ooh, Amanda's bun.
These buns are a little extra charred
but, I feel like time is, like, taken away
and I've got other elements that balanced it out.
[Guy] 03:45.
I get the jelly out of the chiller
and it's still not perfect, but I'm out of time.
I'm selling this jelly.
I put the fry sauce in the little cups,
put the buns on the plate.
Then, the turkey burgers, melty habanero cheese.
I laid along a generous portion
of the jelly to bring the flavor.
I put on my crispy onion tanglers,
smashed avocado on that top bun.
The parsnip fries.
Parsnip fries look great.
[Leah] Look at the little fry basket.
[Guy] Go, chefs.
Two and a half.
[Mimi] I had my toasted buns down.
I get sauce on my buns.
I add my pork patties.
I have avocado with some plantains.
I'm not sure what's gonna happen.
Oh, this is terrible.
[Guy] Chef Mimi, you gotta get moving.
I know, I know.
I am out of time.
I grab the plantains
and just start throwing them on the plate.
[Guy] Minute, 20.
I take the potato French fries.
[Jonathon] Wow.
So very excited about this French fries.
-[Guy] Just one minute, fourteen seconds. -That is amazing.
[Amanda] The charred bun,
some were a little extra charred,
but I feel like I have other elements
that will balance the char.
Five, four, three,
two, one.
That's it. Stop working.
Yay!
[applause]
-[Jonathon] Wow. -[Guy] All right, chefs.
Let's see whose burgers and fries has what it takes?
Let's take it to the judges.
Right this way.
[tense music playing]
All right, judges. This is it.
Game two, Best Burgers.
Oh, the chefs had to make
a winning burger and fries combo
that incorporates the Manager's Special.
First up, Chef Amanda.
So, I've prepared for you, chefs,
a primal game burger.
I had ground lamb,
so I mixed that with some elk and wild boar,
and a spicy sauce,
French fries, and fried asparagus.
These French fries might be the best bite
I've had all day.
-Absolute perfection. -Thank you, chef.
And then, to sully them with the limp asparagus,
it's a bit offensive.
I don't think the overall ratio of the burger
is what you envisioned.
Patty to bun, to sauce, the vegetable,
it's all over the place.
You called it the primal burger.
I thought it might be dry because a lot of the proteins
you used were on the leaner side.
They all really worked together.
With the lamb and the asparagus
meant to be the shining stars, just say,
I don't think that really hit the mark here.
It does feel like the asparagus
were just kind of thrown in the fryer, kind of,
"I don't know what to do."
The challenge here was winning burger.
The only thing I could taste was burnt.
I got a lot of char in the whole thing.
Thank you, chef.
Up next, Chef Chad, what do you have for us?
I got parsnips and ground turkey.
And I decided to make for you turkey burger.
Put in there some jalapeno into the turkey
to give it a little zip.
Habanero cheese, crispy onion tanglers,
with a jalapeno jelly.
And then, for the fries, I used parsnips.
Chad, I'm kind of mad
at how good these parsnip fries are.
They're the perfect amount of sweet
in that bite that parsnip has.
And with this sauce, it's just the perfect balance.
Thank you, chef.
You made sauce, you smashed avocados,
you fried onions.
They were delicious
and it looked great on the plate.
I wanna know why you didn't choose to put sauce
on your burger bun on the top or the bottom.
An opportunity for your French fries sauce
to really showcase what this turkey burger is.
I love the burger meat.
Seared perfectly, seasoned perfectly.
Just a little bit of that jalapeno,
peaks the leanness of that turkey meat.
Thank you, chef.
But for me, the overpowering thing
is the sweetness.
I think you just put too much of that jelly
and it kind of just took everything away
from everything that was going on.
Thank you, chef.
Chef Mimi, what do you have for us?
I have for you a sweet and sour ground pork burger
with some sautéed plantains.
I think it was really smart
that you did sweet and sour pork burger.
I think those flavor combinations
work really well together.
Sweet maduros are amazing.
I do think if you chose the green ones for the chip
'cause they fry up really nice and get really crispy.
Got it.
Chef Mimi, this two-for-one Manager's Special
really threw you a curve ball.
Okay.
But this is absolutely a plantain
-I would buy in a restaurant. -Thank you.
But I really did enjoy that sauce.
I wanna see more of it, though.
When I'm making a burger, whether it's for my kids
or in a restaurant, I go edge to edge.
Thank you.
The issue I have is that this is not a burger and fries.
The fries are not here.
-Understood. -Judges, thank you very much.
Chefs, we got a lot to talk about.
We're gonna send you back to the kitchens.
We'll call you when we have a decision.
Thank you.
Judges, it's time to score the dishes,
determine which burgermeister is the master.
Twenty points for gameplay, Twenty points for taste,
ten points for plating.
[tense music playing]
There's a lot going on in burgers,
but what you gave us was burgers at the peak,
but there could only be one winner.
Let's take a look. Amanda, we'll start with you.
You're the leader.
Thirteen out of twenty in gameplay,
twelve out of twenty in taste,
eight for a plating for a thirty-three,
takes you to a seventy-nine.
I think that asparagus thing really bit you.
Mimi, 40 in the first round,
12 out of 20 in gameplay,
13 out of 20 in the taste.
Eight for the plating.
Also a 33, which lands you at a 73.
Oh, okay.
Chad, you had to completely tank this.
Eighteen out of twenty in gameplay,
thirteen out of twenty for taste,
plating for nine, for a forty.
Congratulations, Chad, the winner, 83.
-[applause] -Wow.
-Congratulations. -Well done.
-Thank you. -Mimi, Amanda,
there's no doubt you do know how to make great burgers.
Great to have both of you come and compete.
-Good night. -Best of luck.
Unfortunately, my first round lead
was not enough for me to win this one.
Very nice to meet you.
-Very nice meet you as well. -Thank you for making it.
Even though I didn't win,
I feel like I brought home,
uh, the win for the family and our community.
-You are. -I appreciate that.
Never thought in a million years
that I would be here cooking for the world to see.
I won just by being here.
What you came and brought us today, kudos.
What are you gonna do with this money?
We're gonna donate to the troops.
My great-grandfather immigrated from Sweden,
came to the country, fought in World War I,
and my grandfather did the same in World War II,
so I'm gonna give it all back to, uh,
the folks who make it possible for us to do things like this.
Freedom ain't free and there's a lot of support
and advocacy that needs to happen.
-You said it, brother. -That's awesome.
All right, brother. Let's go shopping.
[tense music playing]
All right, buddy. Here's the deal.
We're gonna give you a couple different ways
to win up to 20,000 bucks.
First you can go on a shopping spree
in which I will give you two minutes
to find five burger items
that satisfy the burger clues on this card.
And for each item that you find,
we will give you $4,000.
You find all five, then $20,000
or we could go to the mystery check
that is right behind the door there.
And the mystery check has a number on it.
That's anywhere from 8,000 to $20,000.
So, what do you think?
Do you wanna go shopping or do you want to take
the check that's behind the door?
We came to play, man. It's Flavortown. Let's go big.
-Let's go shopping. -Go big or go home.
Fantastic.
Let's take a look at the check.
Let's just see what the money was.
-There we are, Chad. -[Chad] Oh.
$14,999, 15,000 bucks. That's... [sighs]
You gotta get four of these things
to get up to that number.
-Big time. -[Guy] All right. Here we go.
As soon as I read off the item
and you think you know what it is,
you're gonna go find it.
Well, let's go ahead with the first one.
Favorite burger cheese that shares its name
with the citizens of the country
that makes the greatest burgers in the world.
And he's off.
I gotta beat 15K.
American cheese. Of course, American cheese.
The best in the world.
-[Guy] There we go. Go. -Here.
$4,000, cha-ching.
Produce item that is an essential ingredient
in a California burger.
-Avocado. -[Guy] There you go.
$8,000, baby.
Canned version of the messy cafeteria
staple traditionally served in a hamburger bun.
Sloppy Joe.
Canned version of messy cafeteria.
-Sloppy Joe. Sloppy Joe. -[Guy] There you go, buddy.
Sloppy Joe's. $12,000.
Bun for a type of burger that shares its name
with a type of baseball pitch.
-Oh, slider. -[Guy] Five, four, three...
Sliders.
[Guy] two, one. That's it.
I beat the check.
16,000 bucks.
I'm so proud and excited
to be donating these to the troops.
$16,000.
He beat the check by a grand
and he's donating it to the veterans.
You gotta love that. Congratulations, Chad.
You knocked it out of the park.
This guy's a burgermeister.
We'll see you next week on Triple G.
Adios. Thank you, chefs.
-[Jonathon] Congrats. -[Leah] Congrats.
-[Chad] Thanks, man. -[Kelsey] Great job.